Choices
by JazisCharmed
Summary: "She humiliated me!" You defend. "Like you humiliated her?" She presses back. "I didn't have a choice!" You protest. "There's always a choice, Jesse."


You watch her run towards you. Her smile breaks your heart. You shouldn't go through with this, but it's her or your team. In the end, what matters more? She's just a girl. There will be other girls. She may be special, but you're special too. She doesn't deserve this, but neither did you. You did love her, but that was short lived. She broke your heart. Now it's your turn to break hers. You feel like an asshole, but you go along with the plan anyway. Your face changes from a smile to a frown as you watch your teammate come up behind her. You watch as she stops short of you, confused that you are not smiling anymore. You watch as someone you call a friend tosses the egg at her head. Her lip starts to quiver. She covers her face, flinching as the eggs pelt her body. This was wrong, but you don't stop it. You see the pain in her eyes, but don't let it faze you. The eggs stop and she looks up.

"Heard you were a vegan, Berry." You turn to look at the female lead jeering Rachel. Her face is so evil. You grimace, but turn that anger back at Rachel. "The souls of all those poor egg fetuses are all on your conscience now." What a crude thing to say. It was low, you admit, but it's them or Rachel. You don't belong with her. It was never the plan. Still, you can't help but feel guilty. "Do it, Jesse." She encourages. You take a deep breath and look at the egg in your hand. You don't want to, but you know that this is all for the better. "Are you with us or not?" She tests. You look at Rachel. She looks so hurt. It is now that you begin to stop feeling sorry for her. She used you. She tossed you aside at the chance to build her reputation. She broke your heart. Your job to reunite her with Shelby was over and now it was time to leave her. This would be good for the team. You approach her and tower over her, egg in hand.

"Do it." She demands. "Break it like you broke my heart." This is what sets you off most because although she believes you broke her heart, she hurt you first. This is her fault.

"I loved you." You tell her, almost unemotionally. You take the egg and smash it against her forehead. Everyone applauds you. You don't feel pity for her. She was the one wrong here, not you. You walk away in attempt to hide your pain. You don't even look back to check if she's crying because she doesn't matter anymore. You drive back to Carmel alone. When you arrive, you are met with an angry phone call from Mr. Schuester.

"Jesse St. James? Will Schuester here." You fight to urge to laugh at his infuriated tone. "You and Vocal Adrenaline need to meet in our auditorium Friday." What did they think they could do to you? Fight? Nah, they weren't brave enough to do that. "3 sharp." He doesn't even give you a chance to reply. You pull into the parking lot and head into the auditorium.

"Look. The monster has returned." One of your teammates yells as you enter the room. You give a half-smile.

"I've got more news guys. _Noob_ Directions invited us to meet in their auditorium on Friday." They all laugh.

"What could they possibly want?" One girl chimes.

"Haven't we humiliated them enough?" The female lead snorts.

"I guess not…" You mutter. Suddenly, Shelby appears.

"All of you sit down!" She yells. You wonder what she's angry about now. "What were you thinking? This has gone too far." She chides.

"Ms. C, it was just a prank. You let us TP their room. Why is this so much worse?" One of your best guy friends defends.

"First of all, I never _let_ you guys do anything. I just chose not to get angry about it because it wasn't hurting anyone. _That_ was just a prank. Vandalism is just a prank. I'm willing to overlook a silly prank. But to go and humiliate someone like that… She's a vegan, for god's sakes. That's low. Even for you guys."

"You're just mad cuz she's your daughter…" Snaps the guy sitting next to you. Her eyes grow wide.

"Get out of my auditorium." She says brusquely. "GO!" She yells at him. He obeys. "Listen- I don't care if you do a few small pranks that don't hurt anyone, but you crossed the line. Why do you think you're here?" She asks rhetorically. "To crush the other players, or to sing?" Silence fills the room. You roll your eyes. She was probably having some hormonal moment. "This is a singing competition, not a smackdown. Jesse. Andrea. Get in my office." You look at your opposite lead, but obey. "As for the rest of you, you better consider what I've just said to you. Practice is cancelled today."

"But Ms. Corcoran, Regionals is in like a week."

"I said practice is cancelled. It's not like you guys need the practice anyway." You can't hear the rest of what she says because you've already shut the door to her office. It's not like it matters. Most of the things adults say don't register in your mind anyway, simply because you choose to ignore it. After a minute, she appears in the doorway.

"Ms. C, we didn't know you'd get so upset about it. Besides, it'll assure us a win at Regionals. After all, isn't that why you sent Jesse to spy on them?"

"I sent Jesse so I could have my daughter back. How would you feel if New Directions egged you and TP'd our choir room?"

"Shelby, don't pull this. We thought it would be funny. It's not like we killed her."

"Shut up, Jesse." She warns. She was raging now. She was absolutely livid.

"So, Lucas was right, then? You're just mad because we humiliated your daughter? What if we egged someone else on her team? Like that Asian girl?" Shelby doesn't even take a moment to think about her answer.

"You really didn't take to hear what I just told you. So tell me then, why are you here? Why are you in glee?"

"Because I like to sing."

"Exactly. Now how is egging someone helping that? You see… This whole team is based on winning, not singing. If we stopped focusing so much on the prize and more on passion, maybe we would be able to pull off a Funk number. Right now you're all a bunch of robots who usually produce a pleasing sound, but singing is not just about the quality of sound. It's about the emotion and the depth!"

"Sorry." Andrea mumbles softly.

"Go home. I'll see you tomorrow." You get up. Shelby glares at you so you sit back down.

"Are you coming, Jesse?" You look at Shelby for permission; her face is full of anger. She looks betrayed. She's about to go off on you. You turn to Andrea.

"Just go home. I'll see you later." She sighs and turns to leave. Once the office door is closed Shelby begins to speak.

"When I asked you to come back, I didn't ask you to break her."

"Look, it wasn't my idea to egg her. That was all Andrea."

"But you still went through with it."

"You think I liked seeing her hurt like that? She broke my heart."

"I didn't ask you to fall in love with her, Jesse. You did that on your own. All I asked you to do was befriend her, give her the tape, and come back."

"She humiliated me!" You defend.

"Like you humiliated her?"

"I didn't have a choice!" You protest.

"There's always a choice, Jesse."

"Just like you had a choice not to mess up her life?" You retort. "Look, I'm sorry. But you should have thought of the consequences of meddling in her life before you sent me over there." She doesn't respond. "I did my job. You told me to come back and I did. I've done everything you wanted, Shelby. I admit that humiliating Rachel was a bit much, but I only did it out of revenge."

"What happened to 'I care about her. I don't want her to get hurt.'" You sigh.

"People change their minds." You answer.

"How could you? She did nothing wrong. That was my daughter."

"No. She was your daughter 15 years ago. She stopped being your daughter the minute you gave her up."

"I didn't get to see her at all. I didn't have a choice." You snort.

"There's always a choice, Shelby." With that, you stand up. "See you in Glee tomorrow."


End file.
